College

No. 16 Murray State Tops No. 21 Saint Mary’s 65-51

Related Tags:

MURRAY, Ky. (CBS / AP) — Isaiah Canaan scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and senior Donte Poole added 11 as No. 16 Murray State beat No. 21 Saint Mary’s 65-51 on Saturday night for its most convincing win to date over a nationally recognized opponent.

The Racers (26-1) have already clinched the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title, but were still short of victories over quality opponents since beating Memphis in early December before hosting this Bracket Buster matchup with the Gaels.

It was never very close.

Murray State jumped out to a 10-2 lead and never trailed, building a double-digit advantage early in the second half and cruising from there in front of a sold-out CFSB Center.

Matthew Dellavedova scored 17 points for Saint Mary’s (23-5), which has lost three of four. Now the Gaels will face a 2,300-mile trek home and questions about their NCAA tournament resume.

Murray State opened the second half with consecutive baskets to take its first double-digit lead as Canaan and the Racers turned up the pressure while shooting 58.1 percent from the field.

In one sequence, Canaan curled off a screen and took a pass from Poole to hit another long 3-pointer, and Brandon Garrett blocked Brad Waldow’s attempt that led to a 3-on-1 break completed by Canaan after passes from Poole and Zay Jackson.

After Dellavedova answered with a jumper, Canaan hit another shot from beyond the arc that made it 52-35 with 11:28 left as the Racers extended it to as many as 19 late.

A banged-up Saint Mary’s squad needed two flights and a two-hour bus ride just to reach Murray on Friday. It’ll seem like an even longer trip home for the California school with a bus ride back to Nashville after the game and a stop Sunday in Houston before landing in Oakland following this effort.

Saint Mary’s was without defensive stopper Stephen Holt, who hurt his right knee in Wednesday night’s 75-60 loss to Loyola Marymount. Dellavedova rolled his right ankle in the same game, but played without a brace and appeared at times to be the only player willing to try to create for the Gaels after Rob Jones got into foul trouble early.

At times, the atmosphere resembled an oversized high school gymnasium at the CFSB Center with three seniors being honored and a nationally televised broadcast.

Murray State officials warned students earlier in the week not to try to scalp their tickets, and instead, they turned out in force to see the team that started the season with 23 straight wins and rose to as high as ninth in the poll.

Fans began cramming into every nook of the arena that opened in 1998 nearly 90 minutes before tip, with students wrapping around two sides of the building and fans standing up along the very top rows across the steps.

The Racers made it hard to sit early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead capped by 3-pointers from Canaan and Poole. The Gaels never got closer than 20-17 when Dellavedova hit a fadeaway jumper. Jones picked up his third foul with 4:38 left in the first half when he fouled Canaan, who hit a 24-footer.

Canaan couldn’t complete the four-point play, but senior Jewuan Long added a jumper, and Latreze Mushatt and Ed Daniel each hit two free throws to give Murray State a 34-25 halftime lead. Daniel finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

The Racers fell short of becoming the first team to reach the NCAA tournament with a perfect record since UNLV in 1991 when they lost Feb. 9 at Tennessee State at home, but rebounded to capture their third straight OVC crown with wins against Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri.

They’ve had tournament success before when Canaan and his crew beat Vanderbilt in the first round in 2010. Now they can resume the task of finishing up the OVC slate after this dominating performance should ease any doubt of their NCAA tournament pedigree as at least an at-large team.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)